Q&A

London-based interior designers Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead, aka 2 Lovely Gays, are fearless with colour, adventurous with shape and partial to a bit of theatre. Cluroe made his design debut as the runner-up on BBC2's The Great Interior Design Challenge last year. Fast-forward to 2015 and the duo are busy bringing their fresh, minimal style to the masses. Here they share their tips on 'making living lovely'.

BY CLAIRE BINGHAM

Tell us about your most recent revamp.We've been lucky to have an amazing first year, working with some fab people. Each client becomes a part of us. We recently finished a project on Cloudsley Road, Islington, which always makes us smile. The white and gold scheme was a cue from the client but we wanted to give it a fresh look with flashes of emerald and mint green. There are some stunning pieces, not least the metallic marbled wallpaper by Brooklyn-based Calico Wallpaper. It's such a glamorous backdrop.

What are you working on at the moment? We are about to move into a new house. Our first London home in Trilby Road, Forest Hill, will always be very special. It was the first time we had undertaken such a large job for ourselves, which is very different from working with a client. It was an intense learning experience, but we loved every second, and the result was us saying, 'Bring it on!' It is the unexpected compromises that make it. The plywood made a virtue of the boxed-in steels and pipes, creating storage and shelving in every available inch. Our new home will be a progression of our style but with added theatre. We can't wait to get our teeth into it – although there are no holidays for the foreseeable future!

ABOVE: Jordan Cluroe (left) and Russell Whitehead (right) with Buckley The Wonder DogBELOW: White and gold brings a touch of luxe to this cool, Scandi-style scheme in Cloudesley Road, Islington, North London; Soft, muted colours and a curtained wall give this bedroom at the mews house a light and dreamy atmosphere and the sleek metallic lamp adds a dash of drama

What do you love most about decorating a space?The most exciting thing is the way it can make a client feel. We love that an atmosphere can truly be life changing.

How would you sum up your style?Clean. Honest. Human. Playful. Adaptable.

What are your influences?If we are talking design influences, then we love American decorator Kelly Wearstler, and British designers Jasper Morrison and Sebastian Wrong. The flip side of this is our shared passion for art, theatre, film and fashion. We are both from a theatre background and that has had a big impact on us. We are like children in a sweetshop wherever we go. Inspiration sometimes comes from the most unexpected places. At the moment, we have a profound crush on Canadian painter Kris Knight. We've followed his career for years and have finally managed to get our hands on one of his artworks for our house. His paintings are so beautiful, but also magical and emotional. His use of colour really inspires us.

ABOVE, TOP ROW: Jordan and Russell's white and light-filled house on Trilby Road, Forest Hill, South London, balances period detail and design classics to cheery effect. The result is contemporary, functional and fun. With a liking for Muuto accessories, Tom Dixon lighting and Eames furniture, Jordan and Russell are always scouring antique markets for finds to upcycle, such as the green-painted café chair; Kaleidoscopic colour and the use of plywood gives this space the modern factor. This midcentury Danish chair was recovered in a blue-felted wool.ABOVE: The designers clad the chimney breast of their loft bedroom in plywood to create built-in shelves, while keeping the room's original shape. ‘Plywood is one of the materials we’ve used throughout the house’, says Russell. ‘It’s great because it's an inexpensive material but we love the raw quality when it's finished really well.’ Beside the Scholten & Baijings 'Minimal' bedlinen in Syrup for Hay are ‘Athens’ bedside lamps from B&Q

What did you learn from The Great Interior Design Challenge?It's amazing what you can achieve with massive constraints. It was such an intense and exciting experience. It just fired up our passion and made our desire to design a concrete thing.

Any tips on using colour?Be brave – but that doesn't mean you need to go crazy. People say that we are bold with colour, but we have never seen it that way. Colour is a part of life and it's exciting, so why not embrace it? For instance, when looking for an alternative to grey, we found pink was a new twist on a neutral. There’s a phrase we use: ‘mud in the water’. When we are making final adjustments to a scheme, we often remove one colour and clarity appears. Sometimes a tone that bridges two other components can be the ‘mud in the water’. Best to edit it out.

What’s exciting you in design right now?We're getting excited about carpet again but perhaps that's because the house we’ve just moved into is so cold!

Is there one product that you really admire and wish you had designed?The wheel.

Where’s on your travel wish list?The child in us wants to go to Iceland to see the Northern Lights and the snow, but professionally New York is always on our wish list. We love a good city.

What social media do you use most?We love Twitter. It has been great for us and we've made many friends through it. We enjoy Instagram, and are trying to get into Pinterest, but it's too much like what we do at work all day!

If you weren't a designer, what might you have been?We spent the first 10 years of our professional lives training and working as actors, so for us being a designer is a new career. We’re finding it incredibly liberating. We're also co-owners of St. David coffee house, in South-East London, so we have another string to our bow!2lovelygays.com

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ABOVE: Coral pink (Pantone 16-1546) is Pantone’s Colour Of The Year for 2019. Symbolising comfort, warmth and joy this soothing hue is most welcome in these politically uncertain times. Expect to see an outbreak of this nurturing colour across all facets of interiors this year. From rugs to paint colours, from lighting to furniture it looks like we’ll be in the pink in 2019.pantone.com